Berlin - German defence officials released details Friday of an aggressive attack on German forces near Kunduz in northern Afghanistan which suggests a new phase in the war with the Taliban.

A German patrol of nearly 30 men came under attack Thursday afternoon with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades, according to Defence Ministry spokesman Thomas Raabe in Berlin.

In the resulting gunbattle, which lasted several hours, the Germans killed four Taliban, wounded four and took four prisoners who were handed over to Afghan authorities, he said.

The firefight came only eight days after the German military suffered its first death in direct action since the Second World War.

An infantryman, 21, trading fire with rebels was killed April 29 when a rocket-propelled grenade struck his light-armour Dingo vehicle near Kunduz in an encounter lasting several minutes. The attacks suggest a contest is developing for terrain, military analysts said.

Modern Germany had lost many soldiers in fatal accidents, and 12 have been killed by Afghan suicide bombs and booby traps, but none had previously been killed while using lethal force in battle.

Also on Thursday, German helicopter-borne commandoes captured a Taliban leader, Abdul Razek, who heads the movement in Badakshan province, after several hours of fighting near his home.

Taliban-led violence is on the rise in Afghanistan, eight years after the ouster of the Taliban regime. The militants vowed to increase their attacks before more US troops arrived by summer.

The arrival of the war in the north, where the Germans had been comparatively safe and concentrated on aiding civilians, could bring the military into dispute with Germany's large pacifist movement.

Raabe said Friday, "Anyone who attacks us or our allies has to expect that we'll fight back." (dpa)